abolishhomework - History

Should Homework Be Abolished? Pages 327-342. I had not previously recognized the assignment of homework as an educational issue that has been debated for so long; however, it is a debate that has bounced around between the spacious walls of my brain since I’ve been teaching. When I assign homework, who is actually doing it—the student, parents, friends, siblings, the helpful relative, the internet? How much will get done on a Wednesday with it being a “church” night? How much will get done if I assign it on a Friday (many students hit the bus on Friday afternoon and don’t think about school again until Monday morning)? Is it too much, too little? As a social studies teacher, I have followed the path of not assigning much homework at all except for the rare occasions we do not quite finish an assignment in class, and of course, to study for a test or quiz. With that said, I also assign one book report per semester that is done independently and then presented in class. In terms of projects, I allow time in class. Sometimes that amount of time is adequate to finish the entire project, and other times I just make sure they are on the right track and then have them finish on their own provided I know they all have the adequate resources. Is this a reasonable approach, unreasonable? This appears as Issue 18 in our text, and Etta Kralovec and John Buell argue for the abolishment of homework altogether while David Skinner takes an opposing view to abolishing homework. Kralovec and Buell raise a good point regarding homework and students of low socio-economic families. Many students from these families do not have the time or ability to finish homework because of caring for siblings, parent(s) working nights and unable to help, or lack of resources such as a computer or internet to complete it. They had conducted research of alternative schools for high school dropouts and discovered that many cited the inability to complete homework due to their home life as a major reason for dropping out (as cited in Noll, 2007, p. 329). That is not the only factor which causes them to argue for the abolishment of homework. In addition, they cite that

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homework disrupts family life, takes away from what parents want to teach their children, calls accountability into question, and serves no educational or pedagogical purpose. Kralovec and Buell believe that school work is just that.

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